The Sky is a Lie (draft)
Amongst one of the stranger sects of the Church of Humanity, Repentant. It believes that Demnoph has no surface, that in fact the city-planet continues in all directions for as far as possible. (It is a point of contention within the sect whether the city-universe is infinite or not.) It also believes that the core of Demnoph is in fact a physical manifestation of the Divine, the body of the God Soul that warms the universe. It is this second belief that led the sect into the arms of the CHR, its Demnoph members offering the sect protection in exchange for membership. Though some in the CHR have raised concerns about letting such demonstrably false beliefs go unchallenged, local Demnoph community leaders emphasized the need to respect local customs and allow people to believe and worship in their own way. History The Sky is a Lie is a faith born and bred deep in the bowels of the ACRE homeworld of Demnoph. Far below the upper levels of that city planet, workers toil in nightless days and dayless nights, the only cycle that of their shifts and breaks. Many who lived and died in those catacombs of capitalism wondered whether there wasn't more to life, some greater existence to be found, high above their stature, on that mythical place known as 'the surface'. Some decided that the answer to that question was: no. Thus the faith that proclaimed the surface a myth, and the sky a lie, was born. It's one unerring claim being that the City is all there is, that it extends infinitely upward, and tales of 'surfaces', 'skies', let alone 'other worlds' are lies to try and lure gullible people to their doom. Successive generations expanded the faith with the doctrine of the Divine Core, the belief that Demnoph's planetary core was the body of the Divine, the God Soul that warms the universe. After initial attempts at suppression by ACRE directors, eventually local CHR leaders decided to support the faith as a sincere attempt at communing with the Divine. Of course, extracting church dues from the sects' extensive membership also played a part for less scrupulous leaders. The sect had no trouble signing up to the CHR's three tenets, as it believes all life to have been created at Demnoph's core by the Divine, and sent into the city-universe from there. Aliens and Synthetics are merely lost cousins of humanity, twisted into unnatural shapes by their distance from the ordering warmth of the God Soul. Haqani branch (draft) Truly, few underground environments are so idyllic as the underground cities of Haqani. To those born and raised there, it is easy to forget they are living underground. A select few, for various reasons, never properly learned that lesson to begin with. After many years of believing their fake holographic or fluorescent ceilings were true skies, when the moment comes where they are forced to confront the truth, there is only one conclusion: All skies are a lie. Determined not to be fooled again, these believers-turned-sceptics are convinced the supposed 'skies' of the supposed 'planet' Haqani are just as fake as those illuminated and holographic ceilings of the underground cities. Thus they rallied along their own cry, their declaration of truth: The Sky is a Lie! Though initially dismissed as mad ramblings, eventually, the nascent faith found allies: through messageboards and mailing lists, the Haqani sect made contact with their fellow believers on Demnoph. Though at first there was mutual suspicion, soon, both sides came to understand what their contact meant: real proof that they were right! Clearly, the powers that be had artificially compartementalised humanity. Telling adjacent cave systems that in truth they were different 'planets', to thus deceive and divide the faithful. The only thing they needed was to somehow circumvent the plots and traps of the deceivers, and find that which links them together: the Connection. Since then, members of the Sky is a Lie on both planets become known as eager volunteers on exploration missions. In particular on Haqani many are impressed by the members' bravery in going on missions to harvest or hunt Haqani's creatures for medical substances. Though, of course, their real goal is to find the Connection. Initially, the CHR on Haqani ignored the sect, however after the two sects made contact, the CHR leaders on Demnoph informed and supported their Haqani siblings in embracing the sect members into the local CHR structures.